From the desk of Hassan Jaber, Executive Director of ACCESS

"The Senate Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan vote which sends sweeping immigration reform legislation to the Senate floor would open a path to citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants who face separation from their families. While the bill is not perfect, if passed, it provides opportunity for improvement of a very flawed and complex visa bureaucracy.

Approval of the bill would also send a worldwide message that this is the nation that truly does offer hope and opportunity for better lives. It would rightly allow some of the deported a chance to return to their families here. It would protect schools and places of worship from immigrant enforcement. In June, we face a tough road to avoid a filibuster; but Tuesday’s landmark bipartisan vote fuels our momentum to make certain this country lives up to the words of our founding fathers who concluded that immigrants will 'contribute greatly to the improvement of a country.' We all deserve a nation that protects families and whose immigration systems aren’t riddled by bureaucracy that hinders us. We all deserve better."

Join us for breakfast in the fight against breast cancer

The ACCESS Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP) invites you to its first annual Celebrating Life Banquet benefitting Susan G. Komen Detroit Race for the Cure from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, June 1 at Bint Jebail Banquet Hall, 6220 Miller Rd., Dearborn. Tickets are $25, and various additional sponsorships are available. Click here for more information, or contact Hiam Hamade at 313-216-2206 or hhamade@accesscommunity.org. Let’s work together to fight cancer!

AANM leaders honored

This month, three Arab American National Museum leaders were honored for excellence and contributions to our nation and world. Arab American National Museum founding Director Dr. Anan Ameri accepted the 2013 International Service Citation given by the U.S. Committee of the International Council of Museums at a May 19 luncheon in Baltimore. And Museum National Advisory Board members Dr. Jack Shaheen and Russell Ebeid  received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor at a ceremony in the Great Hall on Ellis Island May 11, for their cultural heritage preservation work. Mabrouk! Well deserved!